System and method for adaptive media playback based on destination

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer readable-media for adaptive media playback based on destination. The method for adaptive media playback comprises determining one or more destinations, collecting media content that is relevant to or describes the one or more destinations, assembling the media content into a program, and outputting the program. In various embodiments, media content may be advertising, consumer-generated, based on real-time events, based on a schedule, or assembled to fit within an estimated available time. Media content may be assembled using an adaptation engine that selects a plurality of media segments that fit in the estimated available time, orders the plurality of media segments, alters at least one of the plurality of media segments to fit the estimated available time, if necessary, and creates a playlist of selected media content containing the plurality of media segments.

PRIORITY

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/177,582, filed Jul. 22, 2008, the content of which isincluded herewith in its entirety.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is related to Docket No. 2007-1117, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/177,551 filed on the same day herewith, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to media playback and more specifically toadapting media playback to with content relevant to one or moreanticipated destinations.

2. Introduction

Media playback has become an important part of every day life for manypeople. As various content delivery systems grow more and moresophisticated, media consumers may expect a certain levelresponsiveness, or in other words, more adaptive media. Contextual adson the Internet can be highly targeted and relevant to the surroundingweb page, making the advertisements more effective. This concept has notbeen applied to media playback, however. For example, users who aredriving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on I-15 may be highly susceptibleto advertisements on gambling or may be interested hearing about thehistory of the Mojave National Preserve. There is, at present, no meansof adapting media playback based on user destination.

One approach currently used in the art is to use general geographiclocation in an attempt to target content more effectively, such as alocal business advertising on local radio or a local news stationbroadcasting news that would interest most of the viewers. This approachis more of a shotgun approach where a broad common interest is assumed.The media content is not tailored or customized for individual users anddoes not take into account their expected destinations.

Another exemplary approach in the art is prerecorded informational toursthrough a museum or other attraction on a portable playback device.These devices are typically linear and channel the listener along apredetermined route, ignoring the fact that users may desire to browsethrough the museum or attraction in a route other than the outlinedroute.

These and other shortcomings exist in current approaches of mediaplayback such that there is a need in the art for a more flexible methodof providing media content.

SUMMARY

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth inthe description which follows, and in part will be obvious from thedescription, or may be learned by practice of the invention. Thefeatures and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained bymeans of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out inthe appended claims. These and other features of the present inventionwill become more fully apparent from the following description andappended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention asset forth herein.

Disclosed are systems, methods and computer-readable media for adaptivemedia playback based on destination. The system of the presentdisclosure determines one or more destinations, collects media contentthat is relevant to or describes the one or more destinations, assemblesthe media content into a program, and outputs the program.

The systems, methods, and computer-readable media may be compatible foruse with sightseeing tour media presentations, GPS-based travel guides,AM/FM radio, digital satellite radio, television broadcasts, musicplayback systems for callers who are on hold, or other content playbackschemes.

Various embodiments include media content that is advertising,consumer-generated, based on actual or planned events, based on a userprofile. The media content may be assembled to fit within an estimatedavailable time. An adaptation engine may be used to collect mediacontent that is relevant. Such an adaptation engine may select aplurality of media segments that fit in the estimated available time,order the plurality of media segments, and create a playlist of selectedmedia content containing the plurality of media segments. As theexpected travel path changes, destinations and the associated mediacontent may be updated or adjusted.

Other state data may be used to alter the media content, such as dataindicating that the driver is now going 60 mph, rather than 30 mph andwill reach the destination sooner than originally calculated. Anotherembodiment bases dynamically selected media content on a user profile.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and otheradvantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a moreparticular description of the invention briefly described above will berendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only exemplary embodiments of the invention and are not thereforeto be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will bedescribed and explained with additional specificity and detail throughthe use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates a method embodiment for adaptive media playback;

FIG. 3A illustrates adaptive media playback in a guided tour scenario;

FIG. 3B illustrates an example system embodiment; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an adaptation engine and method embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the invention are discussed in detail below.While specific implementations are discussed, it should be understoodthat this is done for illustration purposes only. A person skilled inthe relevant art will recognize that other components and configurationsmay be used without parting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary system includes a general-purposecomputing device 100, including a processing unit (CPU) 120 and a systembus 110 that couples various system components including the systemmemory such as read only memory (ROM) 140 and random access memory (RAM)150 to the processing unit 120. Other system memory 130 may be availablefor use as well. It can be appreciated that the invention may operate ona computing device with more than one CPU 120 or on a group or clusterof computing devices networked together to provide greater processingcapability. The system bus 110 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Abasic input/output (BIOS) stored in ROM 140 or the like, may provide thebasic routine that helps to transfer information between elements withinthe computing device 100, such as during start-up. The computing device100 further includes storage devices such as a hard disk drive 160, amagnetic disk drive, an optical disk drive, tape drive or the like. Thestorage device 160 is connected to the system bus 110 by a driveinterface. The drives and the associated computer readable media providenonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules and other data for the computing device 100. In oneaspect, a hardware module that performs a particular function includesthe software component stored in a tangible computer-readable medium inconnection with the necessary hardware components, such as the CPU, bus,display, and so forth, to carry out the function. The basic componentsare known to those of skill in the art and appropriate variations arecontemplated depending on the type of device, such as whether the deviceis a small, handheld computing device, a desktop computer, or a computerserver.

Although the exemplary environment described herein employs the harddisk, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that othertypes of computer readable media which can store data that areaccessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memorycards, digital versatile disks, cartridges, random access memories(RAMs), read only memory (ROM), a cable or wireless signal containing abit stream and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operatingenvironment.

To enable user interaction with the computing device 100, an inputdevice 190 represents any number of input mechanisms, such as amicrophone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphicalinput, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, global positioning system(GPS) connected with a portable navigation system for the purpose ofcommunicating a programmed destination, and so forth. The input may beused by the presenter to indicate the beginning of a speech searchquery. The device output 170 can also be one or more of a number ofoutput mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. In some instances,multimodal systems enable a user to provide multiple types of input tocommunicate with the computing device 100. The communications interface180 generally governs and manages the user input and system output.There is no restriction on the invention operating on any particularhardware arrangement and therefore the basic features here may easily besubstituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they aredeveloped.

For clarity of explanation, the illustrative system embodiment ispresented as comprising individual functional blocks (includingfunctional blocks labeled as a “processor”). The functions these blocksrepresent may be provided through the use of either shared or dedicatedhardware, including, but not limited to, hardware capable of executingsoftware. For example the functions of one or more processors presentedin FIG. 1 may be provided by a single shared processor or multipleprocessors. (Use of the term “processor” should not be construed torefer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software.)Illustrative embodiments may comprise microprocessor and/or digitalsignal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storingsoftware performing the operations discussed below, and random accessmemory (RAM) for storing results. Very large scale integration (VLSI)hardware embodiments, as well as custom VLSI circuitry in combinationwith a general purpose DSP circuit, may also be provided.

The logical operations of the various embodiments are implemented as:(1) a sequence of computer implemented steps, operations, or proceduresrunning on a programmable circuit within a general use computer, (2) asequence of computer implemented steps, operations, or proceduresrunning on a specific-use programmable circuit; and/or (3)interconnected machine modules or program engines within theprogrammable circuits.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method embodiment for adaptive media playback.First, the method includes determining one or more destinations (202).Examples of determining one or more destinations include highlightingscenic spots in a cross-country road trip and identifying localbusinesses along a commute to work. Multiple destinations may beselected based on proximity, relevance to the driver, or other factors.As a user's movement changes, the destinations are updated to reflectthe new expected travel path. One example of how updated destinationsoccur is when a museum-goer decides to explore the museum in anon-linear order, as museum-goers are wont or when a commuter whoroutinely takes the same route to work every day and encounters traffic,road construction, an accident, etc. which causes the commuter todeviate from the usual commute. The expected travel path may be updatedon the fly automatically or manually.

Second, the method includes assembling preliminary information about theone or more destinations (204). Preliminary information can be assembledfrom one source or from multiple sources. The preliminary informationmay be pre-programmed. For example, an automated sight-seeing audio tourguide or museum guide can explain about points of interest along a givenroute, like a series of paintings by the same artist or a particular setof monuments. In one aspect, information about points of interest ispre-prepared and stored on a local storage device for retrieval andplayback. In a GPS system in a vehicle, the GPS system interspersesmedia content in between or over spoken directions. For example, manyGPS systems give spoken signals to the user such as, “Turn left on MapleStreet in 300 feet.” In between those spoken signals, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) unit plays back the media content based on theintended destination or planned intermediate destinations. This mediacontent is stored locally or is retrieved via a network, wireless orwired. A user may be able to program in a destination while still in hisgarage, for example, and the GPS unit downloads media content throughthe home network for intended playback during the trip to the intendeddestination. A GPS unit provides media content that is audio, video, orother types of media content that are suitable for playback on the unit.Video may be interspersed with directions or simultaneous withdirections, like a picture-in-picture display. Handheld GPS units canalso operate in a similar fashion. One of skill in the art willunderstand or be able to readily discover the capabilities andlimitations of GPS units and appreciate the many applications of theprinciples taught herein as applied to GPS units. For example, controlson the steering wheel enable a user to switch between a map on the GPSunit and media content. Other control mechanisms may be presented aswell. Control mechanisms in a vehicle may be made available to thedriver and to one or more passengers in the vehicle.

In one aspect, if a possible destination includes multiple sources ofinterest, the system engages in a dialog with the user to seekconfirmation of what content to present. “Do you want content about A orB?”

Third, the method includes collecting media content that is relevant toor describes the one or more destinations (206). Media content may beadvertising or a local news report that is relevant to the anticipatedtravel path. For example, a commuter is forewarned of a major caraccident 4 miles down the freeway. Other media content may be based onactual or planned events. A calendar of events and their respectivelocations can serve as a repository for such media content. If adestination is a place like Gettysburg, Pa., the media content maydescribe events and history associated with the destination. The contentmay also be presented in an interactive fashion in which users mayselect via a touch or voice menu system various portions of the contentto receive.

Often, media content based on events may serve as a type of advertising.Advertising media content may include a furniture store advertising toeveryone within a half mile radius that all loveseats are 55% off until5:00 pm. More complex advertising media content for a business like adowntown lunch restaurant may advertise coupons to individuals atlunchtime heading in the direction of the restaurant.

Decisions as to what is relevant media content may be based on a userprofile. A user profile contains a database of likes and preferencesrepresenting what the user prefers to view or hear. In one aspect, aprofile contains a database of dislikes representing content that shouldrarely or never be played. A user profile may also contain a calendarshowing when, where, and what the user is planning to do so that mediacontent is not scheduled for consumption when it would conflict withanother activity. One user profile may be linked to the user's otherprofiles to share information. For example, the user's profile at theoffice and at home might be synchronized with the user's profile in hiscar, so the same preferences and calendar are available to each profile.A user profile may even include such items as a spending history whichmay give some insight into user purchasing preferences and trends, muchin the same manner as Amazon.com suggests related books based on what auser has already viewed or purchased. A user profile may take in toaccount consumer-generated media content by other consumers who havesubmitted their thoughts and commentary on particular events, places, orservices. Such consumer-generated media content may be contained onblogs, customer review websites, YouTube, Flickr, social networkingsites such as MySpace or Facebook, or any other available resource,local or on the Internet. Consumer-generated media may be digital orotherwise, such as handwritten comments in a guest-book.

Fourth, the method includes assembling the media content into a program(208). A program may be assembled to fit within an estimated availabletime. If a user is driving to work every morning and the commutetypically lasts 25 minutes, then portions of media content may beplanned and assembled to occupy the entire 25 minutes so that they arecontextually relevant to the anticipated location of the commuter whenthey are played.

Lastly, the method includes outputting the program (210). Program outputmay be audio, video, other types of sensorial output, or any combinationthereof. In a guided tour aspect, output may be in the form of a smallplayback device with headphones attached for audio playback. Whiledriving cross-country with the assistance of a GPS system, the programoutput may be video, still images, a ticker of text on the bottom of thescreen, or any other visual display. Just one example of other sensorialoutput is Braille outputs for blind individuals to enjoy the sameinformation. One example of a combined sensorial output is a combinationof video with audio in a traditional advertising format, but othersenses such as touch or smell may be incorporated. One example of atouch-based sensorial output is vibration or rumble features as arecommon in video games. One example of smell-based sensorial outputincludes the scent of freshly baked bread combined with a video clipabout a local bakery.

FIG. 3A illustrates adaptive media playback in a guided tour scenario.The dotted line 304 represents the path of a walking person 306. Theletters identify certain attractions in the guided tour. First, theperson is walking along the dotted line east. In that direction, thedestinations A and B are in the anticipated path, so media contentregarding A begins to play and media content regarding B is prepared forplayback after A's media content is finished and/or the person walkspast A. But at point 1, the user turns north unexpectedly. Based uponthis change in direction, media content about A is still playing, butbased on the new trajectory, media content about D is prepared. As theuser passes A and approaches D, the media content about D is playedback. If content about A is still playing, it may be compressed,redacted, reduced, or otherwise cut short in anticipation of contentabout D. The reduction of content may be adjusted over time so thereduced time-frame content smoothly transitions and is not awkward.

At point 2, the user again changes direction east. Now C and B are bothahead, so media content about C and B are prepared and either one may beplayed as the user leaves D. At this point the guided tour may choosewhich one of C and B to play back based on the user's profile. At point3, the user changes direction south and media content about B is playedand media content about A may be retrieved again in case the userdecides to revisit that particular attraction. The full version of thecontent for A may be output since the user has retuned to A. The usermay also receive content that was previously truncated or cut short ifthe user returns to a destination previously visited. One possible wayto accomplish this is to summarize the content previously presented andtransition from the summary to a more detailed presentation of thematerial. Another possible way to accomplish this is providing anintroduction into the content to be presented.

In a similar fashion, travelers on a freeway may be presented with mediacontent regarding attractions or points of interest at upcoming freewayexits or rest stops. The presented media content may change based onwhich exits and connecting highways the travelers choose. In this way,the program may be modified, changed, or reduced as a new destination isdetermined.

As in the freeway example given above, a vehicle may be outfitted with aGPS device which may serve as the user interface and playback device.FIG. 3B illustrates an exemplary system showing how a GPS device andother devices is used as a part of the principles described herein. Avehicle 350 may be fitted with a GPS device 352. As is known in the art,the GPS device may be affixed to the vehicle or may be removable. TheGPS device may have one or more displays and may be capable ofgenerating spoken instructions to the driver of the vehicle. The GPS mayemploy the speaker system in the automobile to communicate with thedriver instead of internally contained speakers. The GPS unit ascertainsthe location, trajectory, destination and/or speed of the vehicle. Otherinformation may also be ascertained by the GPS unit through observationor communication with satellites or by direct input from the user. TheGPS unit can transmit all or part of the ascertained information over anetwork 356 to one or more servers 358. Transmission may be via awireless signal 354 or other communications medium. The server candigest information received from the GPS unit and reference informationfrom a destination database 360, a media segment database 362, and/or auser profile 364. The server may then determine one or more destination,collect media content that is relevant to one or more of thedestinations, assemble media content into a program, and transmit thatprogram to the GPS device through the network to output to the user. Ofcourse, the principles described here apply to other mobile devicesbesides GPS units.

We turn now to another embodiment that relates to how the media contentis collected using an adaptation engine. FIG. 4 illustrates anadaptation engine 402. The adaptation engine drives the dynamicselection and modification of media content to fill the estimatedremaining amount of time with destination related content. First theadaptation engine selects a plurality of media segments that fit in theestimated amount of time 404. The plurality of media segments can beseveral clips that would fill the remaining time themselves, or theplurality of media segments can be several clips which, if played backto back, would fill the remaining time. Second, the adaptation engineorders the plurality of media segments 406. Potentially based on userprofiles or group profiles, the plurality of media segments areorganized and prioritized. In the case of audio only media, theorganization is linear because only one thing may be listened to at atime. With video media, the organization of media segments may includeplaying several clips at once. The effect is similar to showing a stockticker on the bottom of a news report. Third, the adaptation enginealters each of the plurality of media segments attributes to fit theestimated time 408, if necessary. The alterations may include adjustingthe playback speed to extend or compress the media content to fit theestimated remaining time. Alterations may include truncating the mediacontent. If the estimated time suddenly drops, one alteration is jumpingstraight to the conclusion after the current sentence ends. If theestimated time increases, one alteration is queuing up an additionalmedia segment to follow the currently playing media segment or analternate, longer version of previously summarized content. Fourth, theadaptation engine creates a playlist of selected media contentcontaining the plurality of media segments 410. As stated before, theplaylist may be dynamically altered or adjusted to reflect the currentestimated time remaining while retaining the destination relevance. FIG.4 also illustrates a corresponding method embodiment as well.

In the case of a vehicular implementation, a GPS unit, such as aGarmin™, displays the media content on the entire screen or a subsectionthereof. A handheld GPS unit may also display media content in anon-vehicular implementation. In vehicular or other implementations,media content may also be displayed or played back on a portable DVDplayer, a DVD player integrated into a vehicle, an Apple iPod™ or otherportable media player, a Bluetooth headset, a RIM Blackberry™, or anyother device capable of playing media content.

Embodiments within the scope of the present invention may also includecomputer-readable media for carrying or having computer-executableinstructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readablemedia can be any available media that can be accessed by a generalpurpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM,CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carryor store desired program code means in the form of computer-executableinstructions or data structures. When information is transferred orprovided over a network or another communications connection (eitherhardwired, wireless, or combination thereof) to a computer, the computerproperly views the connection as a computer-readable medium. A“tangible” computer-readable medium expressly excludes software per se(not stored on a tangible medium) and a wireless, air interface. Thus,any such connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium.

Thus, any such connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium.Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope ofthe computer-readable media.

Computer-executable instructions include, for example, instructions anddata which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or special purpose processing device to perform a certain function orgroup of functions. Computer-executable instructions also includeprogram modules that are executed by computers in stand-alone or networkenvironments. Generally, program modules include routines, programs,objects, components, and data structures, etc. that perform particulartasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of the program code means for executing steps of the methodsdisclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executableinstructions or associated data structures represents examples ofcorresponding acts for implementing the functions described in suchsteps.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other embodiments of theinvention may be practiced in network computing environments with manytypes of computer system configurations, including personal computers,hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, and the like. Embodiments may also be practiced indistributed computing environments where tasks are performed by localand remote processing devices that are linked (either by hardwiredlinks, wireless links, or by a combination thereof) through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

The various embodiments described above are provided by way ofillustration only and should not be construed to limit the invention.For example, the processes described herein may have application inself-guided tours (vehicular or ambulatory), museums, schools, zoos, orin GPS-assisted trip planning systems. Devices may be operative in anykind of network, such as the IP Multimedia Subsystem, wireless network,etc. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize variousmodifications and changes that may be made to the present inventionwithout following the example embodiments and applications illustratedand described herein, and without departing from the true spirit andscope of the present invention.

1. A method comprising: determining a current location associated with auser at a first time; determining a destination associated with theuser, where the destination is an expected location of the user at asecond time; collecting, via a processor, a media content, wherein themedia content is related to at least one of the current location, thedestination, and a path from the current location to the destination;and assembling the media content into a media presentation conforming toan estimated available time for the user to get to the destination. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the estimated available time for the userto get to the destination is determined based on at least one of userinput, user movement patterns, average user speed, and the distancebetween the current location and the destination.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the media content is at least one of advertising, consumergenerated, and based on a user profile.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the media content is based on at least one of actual and plannedevents.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating themedia presentation to the user.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein themedia presentation is communicated to the user using at least one ofvideo, Internet content, text, sound files, odor, and Braille.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the current location is determined by a GPSdevice.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: upon detecting anavailable time change associated with the estimated available time forthe user to get to the destination, modifying the media presentation toconform to available time change and the estimated available time.
 9. Asystem, comprising: a processor; a storage device storing instructionsfor controlling the processor to perform steps comprising: determining acurrent location associated with a user at a first time; determining adestination associated with the user, where the destination is anexpected location of the user at a second time; collecting a mediacontent, wherein the media content is related to at least one of thecurrent location, the destination, and a path from the current locationto the destination; and assembling the media content into a mediapresentation conforming to an estimated available time for the user toget to the destination.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the estimatedavailable time for the user to get to the destination is determinedbased on at least one of user input, user movement patterns, averageuser speed, and the distance between the current location and thedestination.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the media content is atleast one of advertising, consumer generated, and based on a userprofile.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the media content is basedon at least one of actual and planned events.
 13. The system of claim 9,the steps further comprising communicating the media presentation to theuser.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein the media presentation iscommunicated to the user using at least one of video, Internet content,text, sound files, odor, and Braille.
 15. A non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing instructions which, whenexecuted by a computing device, cause the computing device to performsteps comprising: determining a current location associated with a userat a first time; determining a destination associated with the user,where the destination is an expected location of the user at a secondtime; collecting a media content, wherein the media content is relatedto at least one of the current location, the destination, and a pathfrom the current location to the destination; and assembling the mediacontent into a media presentation conforming to an estimated availabletime for the user to get to the destination.
 16. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the estimatedavailable time for the user to get to the destination is determinedbased on at least one of user input, user movement patterns, averageuser speed, and the distance between the current location and thedestination.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 15, wherein the media content is at least one of advertising,consumer generated, and based on a user profile.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the media contentis based on at least one of actual and planned events.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, the stepsfurther comprising communicating the media presentation to the user. 20.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, whereinthe media presentation is communicated to the user using at least one ofvideo, Internet content, text, sound files, odor, and Braille.